Cabbies’ bosses pull a ‘Louie’

The spirit of Louie De Palma lives on.
Thousands of cabbies are dealing with the real-life version of Danny DeVito’s infamous dispatcher from the 1980s sitcom “Taxi,” an amoral boss who would demand cash from his drivers to score a yellow cab for a hard day’s work.

Clearly flouting Taxi and Limousine Commission rules, it’s still an unspoken mandate that drivers handsomely tip garage dispatchers to get cars that aren’t total jalopies — and, in some instances, to get a car at all.

Taxi officials say they’re on the case.
“In light of TLC regulations prohibiting such behavior, reports of tips being tacitly solicited by fleet employees are disturbing and will be investigated,” said spokesman Allan Fromberg.

The Post observed cabbies tipping the dispatchers at two locations — Midtown Operating Corp. in Queens and Gotham Yellow LLC in The Bronx — and industry insiders say it happens at nearly all 67 garages in the city.

The owner of the garage will go to a hearing and could be hit with a $500 fine, which jumps to $1,000 if a staffer is caught in the act again. The administrative-law judge may also make the owner pay restitution to the driver, TLC rules say.

Scores of drivers line up during shift changes to nab a cab for the day, greasing the palms of dispatchers behind plexiglass screens with sums ranging from $3 to $15.

TLC rules state, “No owner, including any employee or agent of an owner, may charge to or accept from a driver a . . . tip or fee of any kind, for the lease of a medallion or of a medallion and a vehicle.”

But many drivers say not tipping means waiting hours for a car and ultimately getting the most rickety rides in the fleet.

“You shouldn’t have to tip, but when you’re a new driver, it’s hard to get a car. So you give more tips to dispatcher,” said driver Moustapha Kouanda, who said he used to give $5 a day and is now down to about $3.

In one egregious case, The Post observed dispatcher David Budd at Midtown Operating accepting cash from drivers. When asked about the exchange, he said he wasn’t ripping off the hacks.

“We just make change for them. That’s all,” he said, before driving away.

The garage’s owner, Ron Sherman, is not only president of the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, the group representing fleet owners, but also owns CMT, one of three companies that provide credit-card electronics for yellow cabs.

His spokesman, Michael Woloz, insisted Budd was tipped because he does a good job and not “in association with the leasing of a vehicle or medallion, per Midtown’s policy.”

“Drivers tip. They’re tipping the gas man, the mechanic. It’s in the culture. There’s no special consideration given to anyone because there’s a tip,” Woloz said.

Earlier this month, The Post exposed how greedy hotel doormen routinely make drivers tip them for everyday airport fares.

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